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| Six years removed from his last pitching appearance with the St. Louis Cardinals, Dizzy Dean came back for one last game Sept. 28, 1947, as a St. Louis Brown. Responding to a challenge from fans to take the mound after some disparaging comments he'd made about the Browns as a broadcaster, Dean threw four shutout innings in a game the Browns lost 5-2 to the Chicago White Sox. |
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| Ed Lopat, who became a pitching mainstay for the New York Yankees when they won consecutive World Series titles from 1949 to 1953, was matched against Dizzy Dean when Dean returned to the mound Sept. 28, 1947. Lopat scattered 14 hits as his Chicago White Sox beat the St. Louis Browns 5-2. |
“It ain't braggin' if you can back it up” was one of many things Dizzy Dean was known for saying, and say what you will about Ol' Diz, most of the time he could back up his big mouth.
A notable example of his braggadocio coming to the forefront and actions following came on Sept. 28, 1947, supposedly six years after Dean had pitched his last major league game.
But Dean, 37, came back to pitch one final game that day because of something he said. By that time starting to build a reputation as a colorful and opinionated announcer for the St. Louis Browns, Dean had some choice comments about the Brownies' ability, or lack thereof. Something to the effect that he could do better.
“Doggone it, brother, get the ball over the plate,” Dean said on one broadcast, according to an article by Michael Clair at mlb.com. “Don’t walk that guy. Doggone it, I swear I could do better than a lot of those guys pitching these days.”
Catching wind of such comments, Browns fans called on Dean to prove exactly that. And the Browns, desperate for anything to drum up interest in their woebegone team, took them up on that idea by signing him to a contract Sept. 18. Browns manager Muddy Ruel was less than enthused.
"On the same day that Dean’s contract was inked, Ruel said he had heard nothing about it other than it seemed like the fans were excited," Clair wrote. "When asked if Dean would pitch, he offered a simple 'no comment.' ”
But Ruel, with his team headed to a 59-95 season, certainly had nothing to lose by using him. So here came Diz that Sunday afternoon, strolling to the mound at Sportsman's Park to start against the Chicago White Sox. It was the final day of the regular season, and 15,910 no-doubt curious fans came out to see teams who would finish sixth (Chicago), and eighth and last (St. Louis) in the American League. It was the Browns' third-largest attendance of the season, largest since June 8 and 15,605 more than they'd drawn for a game three days before (that's 315 for Sept. 25 if you're doing the math.)
What they saw was quite a solid performance from Dean. Although not nearly the fireballer he'd been since he'd taken the National League by storm in the 1930s, Dean used his guile to hold the White Sox scoreless on three hits and one walk in his four-inning stint, in a game eventually won by the White Sox 5-2.
It wasn't because his arm gave out that he had to leave. No, it was his legs.
On top of his successful return to the mound, Dean had singled in his first time up to bat, on the first pitch from Eddie Lopat leading off the bottom of the third. But he pulled a muscle while running to second on a fielder's choice grounder by Bob Dillinger.
Dean came back out for the fourth and retired the White Sox in order, giving him a string of five straight batters he'd retired. But then he had to retire, this time for good, because of the pulled muscle.
Some typical Dean horseplay had accompanied that first at-bat. According to the play-by-play at Retrosheet, "Dean came to the plate with a miniature bat, striped black and white; plate umpire Cal Hubbard told him he could not use it, so he then batted with a regulation size bat striped black and orange."
But Diz was all business on the mound. He yielded a sharp single to left field by Don Kolloway leading off the game. But a hard grounder by Bob Kennedy to Vern Stephens at shortstop led to a double play, and Dean then got Dave Philley out to escape the first inning unscathed.
The ChiSox put runners at first and second with one out in the second on a single by Thurman Tucker and a walk to Jack Wallaesa. But Dean again summoned a 6-4-3 double play. He worked around a single by Lopat in the third.
In battling to a brief scoreless duel with Lopat, Dean held his own against a pitcher who went 16-13 this season and would go on to become a mainstay on New York Yankees teams that would win a record five straight World Series titles from 1949 to 1953. He survived 14 hits on this day as the Browns stranded 11 runners. Lopat walked one and struck out one in going the distance.
Lopat shut out the Browns until Paul Lehner and Johnny Berardino drove in runs with singles in the bottom of the ninth.
Meanwhile, the Browns had a shutout of their own behind Dean and Glen Moulder until Chicago busted loose with five runs in its half of the ninth. Cass Michaels provided the big blow with a three-run double.
Berardino, who later became known during a 1963-1996 run as Dr. Steve Hardy on the soap opera "General Hospital," went 4-for-5 on the day. It was the last of five four-hit games he had in his 11-year career. (He had a five-hit game in 1940.) (And by the way, long before he became a major league baseball player, at age 6, Berardino appeared as an extra in three early Hal Roach “Our Gang” films, before sound came to film.)
Although Dean hadn't pitched a game in six years, he wasn't a graybeard in baseball terms. In fact, at age 37, he was only two years older than the Browns' next-oldest player, Nels Potter. And the White Sox had four older players -- Luke Appling, Earl Caldwell, Thornton Lee and Red Ruffing -- available for duty that day.
But Dean's career had come to a premature end because of arm woes he continually suffered after Earl Averill whacked a line drive off a toe during the 1937 All-Star Game. The toe injury forced him to alter his delivery, and he was never the same after that.
Before that, there were hardly any better. The 1934 National League MVP when he led the "Gas House Gang" Cardinals to a world title, he topped the league four straight years in strikeouts and twice led in wins and shutouts. He also led three times in innings pitched and complete games, and by taking turns between starts he was able to lead the NL in saves in 1936 and place in the top 10 in that category four times.
Yes, he was always willing to take the hill, right up to that one last time in 1947 for one final hurrah.
And then it was back to the booth, and plenty of hoo-hahs as he became one of the most well-known announcers of all time on national Game of the Week TV broadcasts during the '50s and '60s. On the mound or in the booth, Ol' Diz could deliver.
But Dean, 37, came back to pitch one final game that day because of something he said. By that time starting to build a reputation as a colorful and opinionated announcer for the St. Louis Browns, Dean had some choice comments about the Brownies' ability, or lack thereof. Something to the effect that he could do better.
“Doggone it, brother, get the ball over the plate,” Dean said on one broadcast, according to an article by Michael Clair at mlb.com. “Don’t walk that guy. Doggone it, I swear I could do better than a lot of those guys pitching these days.”
Catching wind of such comments, Browns fans called on Dean to prove exactly that. And the Browns, desperate for anything to drum up interest in their woebegone team, took them up on that idea by signing him to a contract Sept. 18. Browns manager Muddy Ruel was less than enthused.
"On the same day that Dean’s contract was inked, Ruel said he had heard nothing about it other than it seemed like the fans were excited," Clair wrote. "When asked if Dean would pitch, he offered a simple 'no comment.' ”
But Ruel, with his team headed to a 59-95 season, certainly had nothing to lose by using him. So here came Diz that Sunday afternoon, strolling to the mound at Sportsman's Park to start against the Chicago White Sox. It was the final day of the regular season, and 15,910 no-doubt curious fans came out to see teams who would finish sixth (Chicago), and eighth and last (St. Louis) in the American League. It was the Browns' third-largest attendance of the season, largest since June 8 and 15,605 more than they'd drawn for a game three days before (that's 315 for Sept. 25 if you're doing the math.)
What they saw was quite a solid performance from Dean. Although not nearly the fireballer he'd been since he'd taken the National League by storm in the 1930s, Dean used his guile to hold the White Sox scoreless on three hits and one walk in his four-inning stint, in a game eventually won by the White Sox 5-2.
It wasn't because his arm gave out that he had to leave. No, it was his legs.
On top of his successful return to the mound, Dean had singled in his first time up to bat, on the first pitch from Eddie Lopat leading off the bottom of the third. But he pulled a muscle while running to second on a fielder's choice grounder by Bob Dillinger.
Dean came back out for the fourth and retired the White Sox in order, giving him a string of five straight batters he'd retired. But then he had to retire, this time for good, because of the pulled muscle.
Some typical Dean horseplay had accompanied that first at-bat. According to the play-by-play at Retrosheet, "Dean came to the plate with a miniature bat, striped black and white; plate umpire Cal Hubbard told him he could not use it, so he then batted with a regulation size bat striped black and orange."
But Diz was all business on the mound. He yielded a sharp single to left field by Don Kolloway leading off the game. But a hard grounder by Bob Kennedy to Vern Stephens at shortstop led to a double play, and Dean then got Dave Philley out to escape the first inning unscathed.
The ChiSox put runners at first and second with one out in the second on a single by Thurman Tucker and a walk to Jack Wallaesa. But Dean again summoned a 6-4-3 double play. He worked around a single by Lopat in the third.
In battling to a brief scoreless duel with Lopat, Dean held his own against a pitcher who went 16-13 this season and would go on to become a mainstay on New York Yankees teams that would win a record five straight World Series titles from 1949 to 1953. He survived 14 hits on this day as the Browns stranded 11 runners. Lopat walked one and struck out one in going the distance.
Lopat shut out the Browns until Paul Lehner and Johnny Berardino drove in runs with singles in the bottom of the ninth.
Meanwhile, the Browns had a shutout of their own behind Dean and Glen Moulder until Chicago busted loose with five runs in its half of the ninth. Cass Michaels provided the big blow with a three-run double.
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| Johnny Berardino, who became known as Dr. Steve Hardy on "General Hospital," did some surgery with the bat on the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 28, 1947. He went 4-for-5 for the St. Louis Browns in their 5-2 loss. |
Although Dean hadn't pitched a game in six years, he wasn't a graybeard in baseball terms. In fact, at age 37, he was only two years older than the Browns' next-oldest player, Nels Potter. And the White Sox had four older players -- Luke Appling, Earl Caldwell, Thornton Lee and Red Ruffing -- available for duty that day.
But Dean's career had come to a premature end because of arm woes he continually suffered after Earl Averill whacked a line drive off a toe during the 1937 All-Star Game. The toe injury forced him to alter his delivery, and he was never the same after that.
Before that, there were hardly any better. The 1934 National League MVP when he led the "Gas House Gang" Cardinals to a world title, he topped the league four straight years in strikeouts and twice led in wins and shutouts. He also led three times in innings pitched and complete games, and by taking turns between starts he was able to lead the NL in saves in 1936 and place in the top 10 in that category four times.
Yes, he was always willing to take the hill, right up to that one last time in 1947 for one final hurrah.
And then it was back to the booth, and plenty of hoo-hahs as he became one of the most well-known announcers of all time on national Game of the Week TV broadcasts during the '50s and '60s. On the mound or in the booth, Ol' Diz could deliver.
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